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Cole escapes biting ban

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 07:42

Leicester and England prop Dan Cole escaped punishment for an alleged bite on an opponent in the Premiership champions' 32-15 win over Worcester.

The incident came during the second half at Welford Road on Sunday, with pictures appearing to show Cole biting Worcester flyhalf Ignacio Mieres.

It left blood on the Argentine's fingers and led former England wing Jon Sleightholme on Twitter to call for Cole to be banned.

However, the English Rugby Football Union has confirmed it will not punish Cole for the incident after consideration from citing commissioner Peter Larter.

A statement said: "The RFU citing commissioner has viewed the incident many times and using all the available camera angles and believes it is accidental due to the dynamics of the contact as Dan Cole went to ground. No further action is to be taken."

In addition, Worcester chose not to cite Cole themselves during the four-hour window they had.